London Assembly elections: 1,828 votes for Animals Count in Lambeth and Southwark

Jasmijn de Boo received 1,828 votes (1.12% of the total votes) in the London Assembly elections for Lambeth and Southwark. This was more than the Socialist Party had received.

Jasmijn de Boo commented: “I am proud of our result. We are a new party and there were nine other candidates people could choose from. We had a small campaign with an even smaller budget. In a sense we are comparable to independent candidates in other constituencies, which typically received around 700 votes.”

“Under the first-past-the-post-system people tend to vote strategically rather than for their preferred candidate, if they don’t think their candidate has a realistic chance of election. Our result demonstrates that nearly 2,000 people in this constituency alone care so much about animal issues that they overcame their wish to vote strategically. I am confident we will grow and that the European Parliament elections in 2009 offer a real opportunity for Animals Count.”

The London Elections have been a learning experience, it brought our members closer together and inspired many others. We will start preparing for the European Parliament elections soon.

Thanks again to everyone who helped during the election campaign! It was worth it!

If you are interested in helping, please contact us or come to our next meeting.

3 May, 2008

We managed to hand out 10,000 leaflets all over Lambeth and Southwark, most of them during the past couple of days. Thanks a lot to all the volunteers who have helped! Watch this space for the results…

Meet our team and get an impression of our Party for the Animals hosted on 26th April (click here for photos).

2 May, 2008

London Elections manifesto “In London Animals Count too”

With over eight million inhabitants, London is one of the largest cities in Western Europe, and has the largest population of companion animals within the UK.

For over a million London households, companion animals are virtually part of the family, yet many struggle with the costs of veterinary care.

Millions of voters consider the poor treatment of farm animals and animal experimentation to be important issues, which the government tries to ignore.

Habitat destruction, through human encroachment, environmental fragmentation, pollution and global warming, results in a struggle for survival, for many wild animals within greater London.

We believe that London should take the lead on animal protection within the UK, and indeed, worldwide.

Animals Count’s main aims for the 2008 London elections include:

• Establishing a basic animal health care system comparable to the NHS, including the provision of subsidised veterinary treatment and emergency care
• Providing healthy food within schools, hospitals, care homes, and council premises, by promoting plant-based diets and banning products from intensively farmed animals
• Preservation and expansion of parks and green corridors, facilitating green recreation and wildlife protection

Additional aims include:

• Developing an Animal Protection Unit within the London Assembly ‘Policy and Partnerships’ Directorate, which would be responsible for policy, research and animal welfare education, at all levels
• Strengthening the current Mayor’s Animal Welfare Framework policies, and expediting their implementation
• Introducing Animal Protection (inspection) Officers within each London Borough
• Cracking down on dog fighting and related offences
• Encouraging social housing corporations and private owners to allow pets within rental properties
• A comprehensive strategy for implementing best welfare standards within London city farms
• A freeze on the granting of animal research licenses within London laboratories; critical scrutiny of the costs and benefits of existing animal research
• Making London a leader for state-of-the-art non-animal research methods
• Expansion of London’s Wildlife Crime Unit

Our full manifesto can be downloaded here.

14 April, 2008

The BBC reports: “Animals party eyes City Hall seat”

The political campaign for the London elections is picking up speed. Dozens of volunteers are helping by distributing leaflets, coming to the photo shoot on 12th April at 10.30am near the London Eye, and helping at the ‘Party for the Animals’ event on 26th April in Kennington Park.

While other political parties pay lip service to animal welfare, we are the only party that takes animal issues to the top of the political agenda.

Jasmijn de Boo comments: “With more than half of London households sharing their lives with a companion animal, responsible pet ownership and the difficulties some face when affording pet care, are not marginal issues. We want to strengthen and implement the mayor’s animal welfare framework strategy. We’ll be a watchdog on all animal issues.”

11 April, 2008

Jasmijn de Boo, MSc, founder of the new political party Animals Count, will run in the Greater London Assembly Elections on 1st of May as a constituency candidate for Lambeth and Southwark (London Elects website).

Download the London Elections leaflet here (1.8MB)

“MP’s receive more letters about animal issues than anything other,” says Jasmijn. “However, other political parties barely mention animals in their manifestos. For millions of people, companion animals are like a family member, yet many struggle with the costs of veterinary care. For millions more the treatment of farm and lab animals is an important issue which the government tries to ignore.”

Animals Count’s main aims for these elections include:

• The establishment of a basic animal health care system comparable to the NHS, including subsidised veterinary treatment and emergency care
• Healthy food provision in schools, hospitals, care homes, and council premises, by promoting plant-based diets and banning products from intensively farmed animals
• Green recreation and wildlife protection through preservation and expansion of parks and green corridors

Jasmijn, who has a master’s degree in animal welfare, has worked in the field of humane education for eight years. Before making south London her home in 2004, she was a European Parliament election candidate for the Dutch political Party for the Animals, Europe’s fastest growing political party, which now has two MP’s and one senator in the Dutch parliament.

“Prior to the success of the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands,” she continues, “bigger parties scrambled to be seen to support new laws to protect animals from cruel treatment. Animals are now high on the Dutch political agenda, where they should be, reflecting their importance to millions of voters.”

Seeing the need for a similar party in the UK, the greatest nation of animal lovers in the world, Jasmijn and a core group of supporters launched Animals Count just over a year ago on BBC tv.

Similar political parties for animals also now exist in Spain, Germany, France and Canada.
“Animals Count aims to be part of the next big development in European politics,” concludes Jasmijn. “We want to make London the world’s leading city for animal protection.”

PLEASE NOTE: fielding candidates and campaigning is costly and we therefore appeal to you to support us generously. Alternatively, please help with distributing leaflets, contacting people, displaying posters etc. For more details, see the Events page. Animals count on you!

6 April, 2008